Vinsane in the Membrane

Yes, I did predict a Texas victory - YES, I did that because I knew that Vince Young could not be stopped. But today I'm here to address a couple of ridiculous theories/ideas/suggestions that have been bandied about the airwaves and sports news stations:

1) Vince Young now will (or should) be the #1 pick in the NFL draft based on his performance last night. This is absurd. First of all, what did Vince show us last night that he hasn't shown us before? USC's defense was 40th nationally in yards-per-game against. Texas opponents ranked higher (with Vince's stat line against each): Texas Tech, ranked 26th (12/22 for 239 passing yds, 2 TD/2 INT; 7 rushes for 45 yds and 1 TD; QB Rating - 157.62); Kansas, ranked 19th (19/27, 281, 4/0; no rushing but 206.68 QB rating); Oklahoma, ranked 16th (14/27, 241, 3/0; 17 rushes for 45 yds, 0 TD; 163.50 rating); and Ohio State, ranked 4th (18/29, 270, 2/2; 20 rushes for 76 yds, 0 TD). Also, this was not his first 200-yd rushing game of the year - he rushed for 267 against OK State. He's been the most efficient passer in the NCAA all year. In other words, he did exactly what an educated observer would have expected against a mediocre USC defense. Did he have a spectacular game? Certainly, but he was the best player in football all year. The fact remains, Reggie Bush is the hype pick, and he'll be #1. All this post-coital championship glow will fade by draft time. Plus, Vince still may decide to stay at Texas, where no player has ever left Mack Brown's program early, a very impressive statistic for a top D-I school in today's game.

2) Matt Leinart's (and many media cronies') preposterous assertion that USC was the better team and just didn't make the right plays. Wrong. They failed to make the plays because they weren't the better team. The better team had a #4 scoring defense to go with their #1 scoring offense; the better team trailed only one or two times all year; the better team had a (yes, I'll say it) better quarterback. Better teams make 4th down stops (and 4th down conversions, too) in the last 5 minutes. USC hasn't seen a better team for 3 years, so I'll forgive Leinart the confusion; but sportswriters who blame that loss on anything other than one Vince Young being better than 11 USC defenders should be fired. Did the refs blow a call or two? Maybe. But make no mistake - the better team won.

That's all I've got for today. Oh, and for my money, Vince should go back to school.